Vamana Purana — Battle at Mandara, Shloka 23

The Battle at Mandara: Vinayaka, Nandin, and Skanda Rout the Daitya Hosts

Devanagari script

ततो ऽम्बरतले घोषः सस्वनः समजायत गीतवाद्यादिसंमिश्रो दुन्दुभीनां कलिप्रिय

Transliteration

tato 'mbaratale ghoṣaḥ sasvanaḥ samajāyata gītavādyādisaṃmiśro dundubhīnāṃ kalipriya

Translation

Then, in the sky, a clamorous sound arose—resounding, mingled with songs, musical instruments, and the like—a tumult dear to the beating of kettledrums (dundubhis).

Speakers

• Narrator (Purāṇic voice) continuing the description of the scene.

Key Themes

• War-omen and martial pageantry
• Cosmic soundscape (gīta-vādya-dundubhi)
• Escalation toward battle

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "raudra", "secondaryRasa": "adbhuta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

Is the sound described as auspicious celebration or ominous battle-noise?

The mixture of gīta (song) and vādya (instruments) can suggest ceremonial grandeur, but the prominence of dundubhī (war-drums) and the qualifier kali-priya (fond of strife/din) tilts the sense toward martial tumult—an auditory marker of impending conflict.

How should ‘kali-priya’ be understood here?

In this context it functions idiomatically: ‘delighting in din/strife,’ i.e., a sound congenial to battle. It need not invoke the later-yuga concept of Kali as an era; rather it characterizes the uproar as quarrel-loving or conflict-suited.

Why does the narrative emphasize the sky (ambaratala) for sound?

Purāṇic battles are cosmic in scale; locating the uproar in the sky universalizes the event, implying that the confrontation reverberates through the worlds and is not merely local or terrestrial.